‘i Love Scoring Goals’: Meet Shekiera Martinez, The Striker Taking Wsl By Storm

Shekiera Martinez’s family were sceptical erstwhile she told them, aged eight, she wanted to commencement playing football. She was 1 of 4 girls and a boy successful her family, increasing up successful Germany, and 1 of her older sisters had by past fixed up nan game. “I wanted to commencement but erstwhile I told my mum, she firstly said: ‘No, you won’t play for long, you’ll beryllium for illustration your sister,’” Martinez recalls. “And truthful past I gave her a committedness that I would play for longer than my sister.”

Sixteen years later, nan West Ham striker has surely kept that promise. After progressing done her section boys’ team, playing for Eintracht Frankfurt for six years and thriving astatine younker level for Germany, Martinez astir precocious collected nan Women’s Super League’s Rising Star grant for nan 2024-25 play aft a breakthrough 2nd half of nan run successful which she scored 10 times successful 12 WSL games.

No wonderment nan 24-year-old has a outpouring successful her measurement arsenic she sits down for an exclusive question and reply connected a smart, achromatic agency chair astatine West Ham’s Chadwell Heath training ground, having ended past play pinch back-to-back WSL player-of-the-month awards for March and April. Our speech is happening successful nan mediate of West Ham’s pre-season activity – “I’m sore each day!” Martinez jokes, earlier adding that nan strength has felt really bully – but really did nan league’s astir in-form subordinate astatine nan extremity of past word walk her summertime break?

“I slept really agelong each day,” she says. “I deliberation I needed it, conscionable spending clip pinch my family, stepping nan canine and doing thing aft nan play because besides pinch nan alteration to [move to] England, it was really bully to do thing and conscionable chill.”

Last play was life-changing for Martinez disconnected nan transportation arsenic good arsenic connected it. She became a West Ham subordinate successful July 2024, signing a three-year contract, but could not instantly play successful England. Martinez became eligible only erstwhile she had accumulated capable points for a visa nether nan governing assemblage endorsement strategy utilized by nan Football Association for world players, and assembled nan points connected indebtedness successful Germany’s apical section pinch Freiburg. In January, West Ham recalled her.

“It was really quick,” she says. “I couldn’t moreover opportunity goodbye to everyone [at Freiburg] because I thought: ‘I spell backmost there.’ I [had] ever said my dream was to play successful England 1 time. It came quicker than I thought. I was fresh for nan alteration and I was really excited.”

Shekiera Martinez dribbles distant from Chelsea’s Keira Walsh. Photograph: Tom Dulat/The FA/Getty Images

To opportunity that callback worked retired for West Ham and Martinez would beryllium an understatement; she scored astir a 3rd of West Ham’s goals for nan play contempt joining midway done nan campaign, and ended up arsenic nan division’s associated third-top scorer. She was 1 of only 4 players – on pinch Alessia Russo, Khadija Shaw and Elisabeth Terland – to scope double figures but played nan fewest WSL games of nan apical 16 scorers.

“Yes, I was [surprised], to beryllium honest,” she says. “I really had a batch of respect [for nan WSL] – I didn’t cognize it would spell truthful well. The physicality is overmuch harder present than successful Germany, I think, [but] we person gym each time truthful I besides sewage stronger.”

Martinez earned a estimation for being a objective goalscorer 7 years ago, erstwhile she was nan apical scorer astatine nan 2018 Under-17 European Championship pinch 9 goals to thief Germany decorativeness arsenic runners-up.

“I’m a 9, I emotion scoring goals,” she says. “I’m not really reasoning erstwhile I’m playing football; it conscionable happens connected instinct. If it happens, I’m happy, if not it’s besides OK for me. I really for illustration nan business erstwhile I spell one-v-one against nan goalkeeper. Sometimes it’s really difficult because you person truthful overmuch clip to think.”

Her emotion for nan thrill of scoring goals is clear but she is not a diehard football-watching fan. She loves watching hoops – nan master subordinate Leon Fertig is simply a bully friend – connected tv but not football: “I don’t watch immoderate football, unless my friends are playing, truthful I support my friends erstwhile they are playing. I conscionable for illustration playing much than watching.”

Another pleasance is stepping her dog, an eight-month-old artifact poodle named Ruby, who was calved conscionable arsenic Martinez moved to nan WSL. “I don’t spell into nan metropolis often truthful I’m conscionable pinch my canine successful nan parks, enjoying my quieter time,” she says. “We’re surviving down a parkland truthful we thought: ‘It’s nan correct clip to get a dog.’ I emotion it. She’s my baby.”

If Martinez continues scoring astatine her caller rate, she will surely beryllium improbable to person nan summertime of 2027 astatine location pinch Ruby, because Germany whitethorn good travel calling for nan World Cup successful Brazil, but she is not putting immoderate unit connected herself for a elder call-up: “It would beryllium a dream of people but I don’t want to unreserved myself. I can’t alteration anything, I’ll conscionable effort to play my champion and if they for illustration it, they for illustration it”

In nan overmuch much contiguous term, nan WSL play looms connected nan horizon, pinch West Ham opening their run distant to Tottenham Hotspur connected 7 September. After a ninth-placed decorativeness nan scheme is to “climb up nan table” and Martinez says: “If we play for illustration nan past half of past season, we tin beryllium really good.”

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